earticle

영어

The purpose of this article is to examine sexism in Korean proverbs and then to suggest a means of translating sexist proverbs into some Western languages―a translation strategy applicable to gender translation. For this purpose, it takes one of the most common Korean proverbs, "When the hen crows the house goes to ruin," as the most typical expression of gender discrimination that often occurs in male-dominated Korea. The article argues that although sexism in proverbs and maxims are universal to cultures, it is far more prevalent in a patriarchal society like Korea, since it has undoubtedly been influenced by Confucianism for a long time. This article further points out that gender-oriented translators should "re-read" or "re-write" these Korean proverbs when they translate them into Western languages. In sum, the translating strategy that Susanne de Lotbiniére-Harwood took when she translated Letters from an Other, by Lise Gauvin, might be most effective.